Thread by @KimLaCapria, [IMPORTANT] We at TOF want to talk about a *very* distressing interview [...]

[IMPORTANT] We at TOF want to talk about a *very* distressing interview brought to our attention, regarding fact checking sites and coronavirus. according to the interviewee, fact checkers cannot — or refuse — to “rise to the occasion": /1

the answer, of course, after neverending cash grabs — is more (of your) money. effectively, "we refuse to to our jobs at this critical moment, we claim to not have the resources." (this is not the first time google has been targeted as a funding source.) /2

so we decided to do a little fact checking ourselves based on this article. we measured our efficiency against theirs from 3/13-4/1. please bear in mind we have never and will never asked for donations or ransomed information, particularly at this critical time. /3

we created a spreadsheet, starting on march 13th, measuring the respective outputs of both our site and theirs. we reiterate we cannot and have not thrown up our hands, and are working relentlessly to do as many fact checks as we can (along with pandemic-related disruptions). /4

here’s what we found … in the period of time, subtracting content syndicated content, they published 78 pieces of original content, to our 53. but those counts don’t tell the whole story. /5

that site also publishes a tremendous volume of outsourced un fact checked content from AP and the conversation. in fact, more than 8 in 10 posts to that site were syndicated on a single day, with an average of only 23% original content throughout the period. /6

moreover, our site is staffed with a total of 3 people, two contributors and one editor (3). they have a staff of 15, seemingly with 6 contributors. based on numbers provided on their staff page, we took a closer look. /6

of the 78 original pages in the period, an add'l 32 were attributed to the co-founder alone, and another four to the generic staff byline. presumably those posts can be subtracted from the 78 original posts, leading to a total of just 42 original posts in this 14 day period /8

we ran two sets of numbers - one comparing our publishing rates on the original raw count, and one modified to subtract posts published by the founder himself /9

here’s what we found there, they average .4 posts per staffer per day, and .9 posts per contributor. when adjusted for the founder’s posts, those numbers plummet to an average of 3 new posts a day, .5 by writer, and .2 by staffer /10

in the same 14 day period, @erumors published 53 new posts, none syndicated. we averaged 17.7 posts per staffer in the period (versus 5.2), 26.5 posts in the period (versus 13), and 53 posts per editor. /11

our raw post total was higher at 53 than theirs subtracting the 67% of outsourced posts, and 36 of 78 from the founder alone or the “staff” byline /12

compared to their averages of .9/.5 or .4/.2 posts per contributor per day, we averaged 1.9 posts per contributor and 1.3 posts per staffer per day /13

clearly, everyone is struggling in this novel pandemic situation, and indeed, our work volume has increased. however, we are horrified at the suggestion fact checkers in general would choose to “throw up our hands.” /14

we have not and will not do that, and it is even more distressing after accepting more than $2m in donations, a number ever increasing, to refuse to provide this service in a time of crisis. /15

and even worse to speak as if all fact checkers en masse have given up, and want your money, when people are scared and need us most. /16

those funds are clearly not necessary to do this work well and in a timely fashion as we believe these numbers prove /17

we have not taken donations, and operate more efficiently on a shoestring budget, and we are happy to do so and would never consider giving up at a time like this. /18

we don’t need your money, and we don’t need google’s money. what we do need is your continued support in the way of reading and sharing our fact checks, and if you could forward us rumors, we would be very grateful. thank you. /19

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